The engines have not had any opportunity of working at high speed in the long voyages for which they were intended, but in the rapid and comparatively short passages made by the ship across the Atlantic they worked with great regularity and success. Although they were commenced seventeen years ago, they are still fine specimens of marine engines, and bear witness to the care taken by their builders in their design and manufacture.
Of the points on which Mr. Brunel laid stress, and which, as he remarked, ‘involve no other risk than that of being useless; they cannot do mischief,’ many have now come to be considered essential parts of good marine engines. He thought it of great importance that the steam cylinders should be jacketed, especially at the ends; and it was intended that the high-pressure steam for this purpose should be taken from the auxiliary boilers. This plan was, however, not adopted.
Mr. Brunel was also anxious that the steam should be heated immediately before it entered the cylinders, and that fresh water should be supplied for the boilers by using the same water over again. Arrangements for effecting these objects have since been brought into general use.
The advantage of having several cylinders to each engine was shown while the ship was running to America. Part of the valve-gear of one of the paddle-engine cylinders gave way, the engines were stopped for four hours, and the ship was propelled by the screw alone. The cylinder was disconnected and turned back out of the way, and the engines worked efficiently with three cylinders for four passages across the Atlantic.
The average speed of the ship on those voyages in which her performances were fairly tested was about 13½ knots. On two occasions she made the voyage from New York to Liverpool at an average speed of 14 knots; and she maintained her speed in rough weather and head winds to a much greater extent than is the case in smaller vessels.
By having two sets of engines, the ship was saved from serious disaster at Holyhead, and again in the gale of September 1861.
The great handiness of the ship is one of the many beneficial results of the use of both paddles and screw. By working the paddlewheels astern and the screw ahead, she can be kept from moving forward or backward, and at the same time the stream of water from the screw, acting on the rudder, makes her answer her helm and turn round on her centre. By modifying the speed of the two engines, she may be made to creep slowly forward; and as the rudder is in the full rush of the water driven back by the screw, the ship has practically as much steering power as she has when moving rapidly. The importance of this power of controlling her when passing through narrow channels, in entering and leaving port, can scarcely be over-estimated.
The career of the ‘Great Eastern’ since the formation of the present Great Eastern Steam-Ship Company, has been prosperous.
In the commencement of the year 1864, when Mr. Cyrus Field had succeeded in reviving the project of laying the Atlantic cable, the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company took the contract for laying it, and hired the ‘Great Eastern.’ She was brought round to Sheerness, where the cable tanks were fitted into her. One tank was placed in the forward cargo compartment, and another in the after cargo compartment; and the largest tank was placed over the middle screw boiler room, the funnel being removed. Therefore, during the cable-laying expeditions, the ship only used eight of her boilers.
The history of the laying of the Atlantic cable is well known. The ‘Great Eastern’ started from Valentia on June 23, 1865, under the command of Captain (now Sir James) Anderson, and the cable was laid more than half way across the Atlantic; but, on hauling in to recover a fault, it was broken, and dropped to the bottom of the sea.